A War for the Wastes
by JackRyan64
Summary: Joshua Cole lives a fairly simple life in the wastes. He hunts Enclave couriers and patrols, claims any intelligence they carry, and collects it to report back to his superiors. But when he uncovers hints about an unknown, and dangerous, Enclave operation in Virginia the wastelander is forced to fight a war that he's been avoiding for years.


**Chapter 1: Another Day in the Wastes**

Sunlight slowly peeked up through the windows of the small shack that sat out all by itself in the middle of the Capital Wasteland. As the sunlight stretched across the dusty and littered floor it exposed multiple empty boxes of chips and empty water bottles. It wasn't long until the bright light touched the wet nose of the sleeping german shepherd on the floor. The dog blinked as the rays reached its eyes and it slowly stood up with a long drawn out yawn. It muzzled around in an empty bowl on the ground then turned to jump on the worn out cot, which sat in the corner of the shack.

The owner of the cot, a man in his late twenties with light brown hair and three days worth of stubble, groaned as the shepherd jumped up alongside him and started to nudge at him with its nose. Eventually he surrendered to the dog and patted it on its head with a sigh, "Fine, fine I'm up. Just…" he yawned again, "just give me a minute."

He shifted on the cot and reached over to turn on the battery powered radio that sat on top of a tattered card table. By the time the first song had ended he had pulled on his dark gray pants and one of his boots.

The host of Galaxy News Radio, Three-Dog, then interjected once a third song had reached its end, "Goooooood morning Capital Wasteland it's your best friend Three-Dog comin' at you once again through the power that is the radio waves. This past year has given us all kinds of gun-toting heroes paving the way for peace for us wastelanders. There's the Brotherhood of Steel, the Regulators, and our very own hero from Vault 101. However we can't forget about one fella who's been workin' without any credit. Let's all take a moment to say 'thank you' to our good friend the Mysterious Stranger!"

"Mysterious Stranger?" Josh, the shack owner, snorted and pulled on his leather duster. He holstered his .38 revolver at his hip and slung his freshly cleaned sniper rifle over his shoulder. He opened the door for his dog and they both left, but not before Josh grabbed the radio and put it in his pocket.

As they walked across the wastes Three-Dog continued, "That's right this fedora wearing, revolver slingin', vigilante could show up to get you out of the worst situations. Then, before you get a chance to thank the guy, he disappears. Is he a ghost? Some vengeful spirit who watches out for the weary and downtrodden? When I find out I'll be sure to let you all know. Until then let's listen to some music."

Once Three-Dog had finished and the music returned, Josh turned down to his companion and pulled out his map, "So which way do you feel like today? North or west?" The dog barked and started to wag its tail. Josh nodded and tapped a dull pencil on the thick paper, "Northwest it is!"

Both companions traveled for a few hours without running into much of anything aside from a pair of mole rats and a dead scavenger whose body had been dumped off to the side of the road.

Once the sun had crossed the sky and was starting to set Josh scratched his forehead and looked down to his canine compatriot, "Yet another day wasted." He viciously scribbled at the northwest corner of his map before sighing, "Three weeks ago Enclave couriers ran by the shack every other hour. Now that our good friend the Lone Wanderer has teamed up with the Brotherhood I can't find a single one."

Just as he finished his exclamation the shepherd froze in place and began to growl. Josh instinctively readied his rifle and fell to the ground. He used his elbows to crawl forward to the ridge ahead and saw three small figures passing through the small ravine below. He didn't need to look through his scope to see that it was an Enclave patrol. Josh patted the canine on the head and whispered, "You get the last box of crisps tonight."

He lifted his rifle to his cheek and slowly exhaled. As he began to squeeze the trigger he mumbled, "Normally there are five in a patrol…right?"

To answer his dog barked and lunged back behind him at an unseen opponent. Josh spun around to see another two Enclave troopers who had been on the outside flank of the patrol for security. Josh barked out his own long train of expletives for not thinking of a common patrolling technique and fired his rifle at the furthest trooper. The high-powered bullet from the sniper rifle crashed into the lower abdomen of the power-armored trooper and kicked him onto his back.

With one soldier incapacitated Josh turned his weapon to the second who was already fending off the wild lunges and jumps of the canine whose teeth were unable to penetrate the heavy armor. Josh shouted, "Down boy!" just before firing at center of the soldier's chest. The dog obeyed Josh's command and rolled off to the side as the armor-piercing bullet broke through the Enclave armor and killed the man within.

Unfortunately for the pair of wastelanders the rest of the patrol heard the battle and were moving to attack. Josh scrambled back to his previous firing position, took aim, and fired once more at the closest trooper. The bullet punctured the armor protecting the soldiers left thigh and the assailant collapsed to try and stop the bleeding. Another trooper fell beside him with a bullet in his head soon after.

The Enclave officer, now alone and outgunned, turned away from his attack and sprinted back the way he came and away from his attackers. Josh aimed once again with his rifle and pulled the trigger.

_Click._

"Damn it!" Josh swore as the weapon clicked empty. He drew his revolver and started to chase after his target while turning to his dog and shouting, "Go get him!"

The companion, who was easily keeping pace with his master, lunged forward in a sprint of its own after the Enclave officer. It didn't take but a few moments before its jaws had enclosed around the officer's ankle and twisted. Josh finally caught up to the pair, revolver drawn, and called his dog back to his side. He pointed his weapon at the officer's skull and gestured toward the worn leather briefcase he had been carrying, "Open it up."

The officer grimaced as he nurtured his torn ankle, "Why don't you just go to hell…"

Josh looked down to his companion and said, "Bandit why don't you take another chomp at our friend here? I'm sure he'd be more talkative after that."

Bandit snarled and started to step closer to the officer who had suddenly gone pale. After what sounded like a whimper the officer fumbled with the locks on the case and tossed it up to Josh. He scrambled backwards a few inches as Bandit continued to grow closer, "There now let me be!"

"Alright Bandit that's enough. Let the poor guy recompose himself." Bandit's face immediately went from deathly snarl to a playful pant as it sat down on the dusty ground to look up to Josh, who was sifting through the documents inside the case.

Josh mumbled to himself as he quickly skimmed over the contents of each page. Troop movements, weapon and ammo requisitions, classified biological tests, it was all inside. Once he was done he closed the case with a grin and nodded to the officer, "We're done here."

Josh raised his revolver and the officer started to scream but was cut off by a final crack of thunder.


End file.
